So my gaming group and I have been talking about how cool it would be to use some coin props instead of just keeping a tally on paper. As a DM I think it would be awsome to just toss a bag at a player after they find treasure or loot a body. Has anybody else done this? Any tips? Below are some of my thoughts on the whole thing.

I think that this could be done reasonably with 2k coins but I think 5k would be better. I would have to make good use of money changing (so I would use a lot more platnum, gems, etc... to make the huge loots more manageable).

Plastic coins are fairly easy to get and cheap, but they are plastic. The weight and feel of metal is just super cool.

Old arcade coins are fairly easy to get and while not as cheap as plastic still not crazy expensive. The unforunate part about these is that they are going to have obviously modern stamps on them (Aladin's Castle, $1, CarWash, etc....)

I've talked to a company in China about making custom steal coins. This route is expensive. The cost to make the coins is pricey, but I could do it. However, the cost of shipping is stupid and puts it over the edge.